Optical connectors typically have a housing holding the optical ferrule with an optical fiber. The end faces of such ferrules need to be a certain, optimum shape to prevent misalignments, air gaps, reflections, or scattering of light at interfaces at which optical fibers need to be coupled in an optical fiber link. Because of the precision needed, the end faces of optical connectors need to be inspected. Imperfections in the end faces of optical connectors are compounded by being summed with similar imperfections at other fiber junctions in the system and ultimately can lead to greatly increased light attenuation, lower signal to noise ratios, and lower system band width. To assure the necessary physical contact between two mating fibers, the ends can be angled and polished, as described above, and factors such as radius of curvature, fiber height, and apex offset of the polish with respect to the center of the fiber is controlled. These types of parameters will help to insure physical contact between the fibers, thereby minimizing loss and back reflection.
Before these connectors are installed in the field, they need to be inspected. Inspection can involve visual inspection to identify imperfections and debris, as well as to measure, for example, the radius of curvature, the apex offset, and the fiber height. Various inspection machines have been developed for providing this type of testing. In general, these machines utilize interferometer-based systems. These systems are generally manual in nature, in that the systems require an operator to manually manipulate each connector that is processed by the systems.
Improvements in the inspection of connector ends are desirable.